The moment President Donald Trump announced the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Democrats predictably tripped over themselves to declare the whole thing unconstitutional and an illegal act of war. My social media feed was full of statements from Democrat members of Congress spewing the identical talking points. Unfortunately for them, there was nothing illegal about what Trump did.
"There is no justification for the United States to be at war with Venezuela," declared Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). "I lived through the consequences of an illegal war sold to the American people with lies. We swore we would never repeat those mistakes. Yet here we are again. The American people did not ask for this, Congress did not authorize this, and our service members should not be sent into harm's way for another unnecessary conflict."
Here's the thing: the United States isn't at war with Venezuela.
There’s been no invasion or commitment of troops. Trump made no unilateral declaration of war. Democrats are living in a fantasy where everything Trump does is an illegal, impeachable act. Meanwhile, the people of Venezuela are celebrating, but Democrats have to oppose everything Trump does, even when the outcome benefits millions living under a brutal dictatorship. They just can't help themselves.
We've seen this routine before. Every time there's a strike on foreign soil, the reaction depends entirely on which party controls the White House. When it's a Democrat, suddenly everyone's fine with military action without congressional approval. It’s bold! It’s leadership! It’s presidential! But, when it's Trump, it's apparently a constitutional crisis.
ICYMI: Wow, a Democrat Actually Praised Trump’s Capture of Maduro
Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the sole power to declare war. True enough. But that's never required the president to seek prior authorization for military action when war isn't declared. Presidents have used military force for decades without formal declarations, and Democrats have been perfectly comfortable with it when their guy's in charge.
For example, Obama launched airstrikes against Libya in March 2011 to topple Muammar Gaddafi. If you don’t remember Obama getting congressional approval for the strike, you are remembering correctly. It certainly was a dubious strike. Libya was contained, and the fallout from it was an absolute disaster. But, strangely, since Obama did it, Democrats weren’t bothered by it.
Obama, despite his Nobel Peace Prize, had a habit of launching airstrikes without congressional authorization. In 2014, Obama started airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against ISIS without any new congressional approval. Instead, his administration dusted off the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force passed after 9/11 and the 2002 Iraq War authorization, even though ISIS didn't even exist in 2001.
Then Obama went back to Libya in 2016, this time hitting ISIS targets in Sirte. Again, no congressional vote approving renewed military action.
And of course, Joe Biden kept the tradition alive.
In Feb. 2021, he ordered airstrikes on Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria after rocket attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq. Biden called it self-defense, and did not seek congressional approval. Ol’ Joe did the same thing multiple times throughout his term.
The hypocrisy is exhausting, but I suppose we can all admit what the Democrat bellyaching is really about. They’re just looking for a reason to impeach Trump again. I’m sure articles of impeachment are being written up as you read this. But if Democrats weren’t willing to impeach Joe Biden or Barack Obama, then there’s no reason to take them seriously on this issue today.
